Importance of the Sub-Practices

I am trying to explain to a organization that they need to look at the sub-practice areas and make sure that the artifacts for the SCAMPI A also answer the subpractice areas. I understand that the subpractice area are a detailed description that provides guidance.

Has the organization been trained on the SEI’s 3-day Intro to CMMI class? The CMMI instructor should have explained and emphasized the role of the informative material (e. g., sub-practices). And in the words of Rusty Young, this material is “informative” NOT “ignorative.” Another way to look at the informative material is if it has no value to the model, there is no point in including it. Then the model would only consist of goal and practice statements, which would only take about 10 pages to document. The sub-practices are provided to help the reader understand the intent of the practice and goal statements.

HOWEVER, in a SCAMPI A appraisal the appraisal team will only be evaluating the required (goals) and expected (practices) components of the model, NOT the informative material (sub-practices et. al.) So you would be mistaken if you required the organization to provide evidence (Direct and Indirect) for the sub-practices. The organization only provides evidence for the goals and practices in a SCAMPI A.